


Dreams Only Last For A Night

by cmsmith86



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-18 06:51:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cmsmith86/pseuds/cmsmith86
Summary: Austin is what people have considered a lost soul, and he has lost his way. When his parents kicked him out, he took to living on the streets of New York City. Sleeping with men night after night, is the only way he knows how to make it in the world, he has dreams of someday making it big but knows that it will probably never happen. When he sneaks into a stop on the Warped tour, he meets Van Corbett whose one act of kindness starts a chain of events that makes Austin see that there is more in the world than what he has doing, especially when he meets Alex from All Time Low, the one person that Austin feels that he can be truly open with.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another old story I wrote, just wanting them all in one place. If you guys like it, I would love some feedback. Luckily, my writing has gotten much better since this was written lol

I looked at myself in the mirror of the hotel bathroom, my eye was almost fully swollen shut and when I lifted up my shirt it wasn't that better, I had a huge bruise on my right side along my ribs. That fucker did a real number on me, least I would look pretty badass. I smiled at this only to get a sharp pain in my jaw, I walked out of the bathroom I couldn't take looking at myself anymore, I walked out the door into the chilly New York air. I knew that I would have to walk to the venue but that was fine by me, I was thrilled to find out the hotel was actually within walking distance, I saw the fence surrounding it, it wasn't that tall and I knew it would be easy to climb which is exactly what I did, the landing made my ribs hurt more but I didn't care I was about to see my favorite bands, my life was actually going to seem worth something now, that was until a strong hand grabbed my arm, I looked back to see a security officer there looking at me like I was a piece of trash.

"You got a pass there, son?" He asked, probably already knew I didn't have one.

"I must have left it back at my hotel room, " I lied and he knew it he shook his head, "OK I don't have one perse, but maybe I can buy one"

"Yeah, you look like a real big spender," said the security officer with a scoff, "I am taking you to see Mr. Corbett, he will know what to do with you"

"Great," I said sarcastically as he leads me, squeezing my bicep the entire time, to a booth where a boy was selling merchandise, I recognized him, he was the Skull and Dice record label, kid.

"Mr. Corbett, we have a crasher," he said as Van turned around and looked at me, he looked angry but I watched his eyes look at my eye and then down to the blood stains on my t-shirt.

"I will take it from here, thanks Steve," said Van, the security officer let me go, Van turned to a girl standing beside him and then walked and motioned for me to follow, "are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm a warrior. Are you taking me to the cops?" I asked scared, I couldn't go to jail again.

"No, I am going to take you to get some food, you look like you haven't eaten in weeks"

"I probably haven't, listen, I don't want to be some fucking charity case," I said angrily, Van only smiled at me.

"Dude, you look like you need help and I am going to help you. Either that or I can have Steve take you to the NYPD and we will see what they do" said Van raising his brow at me, I didn't bother making another fight about this. Van led me to a table set up behind a stage a guy was sitting there, he looked up and I noticed it was Ryan Ross from Panic!, I could feel myself about to have a fanboy moment.

"You're Ryan Ross," I said regretting it as it left my mouth, god, I am so stupid sometimes.

"That's what they tell me," said Ryan with a smile and then looking to Van who I watched mouth 'We will talk about it later'.

"Sit here and I am going to get you a burger we got for Jon," said Van with a smile before walking off leaving me there with Ryan.

"Did you get into a fight here?" Ryan asked me, I shook my head but there was no way I was telling him the real story.

"No last night, but I am OK now" I lied, the pain was reminding me just how not ok I really was, "Van is really nice"

"Yeah he is, probably, the sweetest guy I ever met," said Ryan with a smile, a smile I have never seen someone smile before, he seemed happy.

"Ryan, hey man, is Van around?" came a voice behind us, I turned to see Alex Gaskarth, the Alex from All Time Low, the boy I use to jerk off too while looking at the poster on my wall.

"He went to get something but he will be right back, is everything OK?" asked Ryan curiously.

"Fuck no, our fucking assistant just fucking quit on us today," said Alex as Van walked back up with a burger and drink in his hand.

"Alex, are we going for the f-word award today?" asked Van with a smile, Alex gave a slight one and then ran his fingers through his hair.

"No our tour assistant quit, so we are pretty much screwed for the rest of the tour," said Alex, I watched as Van looked at me and then back at Alex.

"I think I will have you one by the end of the day, just give me a few OK?" asked Van, Alex looked relieved.

"Van, you are the man. I knew we were friends for a reason" said Alex giving Van a quick hug before walking off, I was jealous of Van in that instant, I wanted to be him for a lot of reasons, to hug Alex and to maybe no be homeless living on the streets.

"So, um, I don't know your name," said Van eying me.

"Austin," I said, he smiled.

"Austin, can I ask you something and if I am wrong you are more than willing to punch me," said Van, Ryan looked at him and then at me, almost silently telling me if I punched Van I would be getting my ass kicked.

"Go ahead," I said, Van, looked nervous.

"Um, I have a feeling that you are a homeless teen, I get that vibe because you looked like you haven't eaten and I bet that is the only shirt that you own. All Time Low needs an assistant for the remainder of the tour and it will pay you, and you will be doing me a favor" said Van, I could feel my heart starting to beat faster in my chest, was he fucking serious about this right now.

"Are you fucking with me?" I asked Van, shook his head.

"No, you heard Alex. Plus, you are a teenager and you can easily help them with whatever they need and selling their merchandise, I will even help you out," said Van, I expected to wake up any moment, but this wasn't a dream.

"Um, yeah, that will be awesome. Why are you doing this?" I asked Van shrugged.

"Because I see a lot of me in you, I know I seem happy in this world and I am now, but I haven't always been this happy. Warped tour is good for making people happy" said Van, he gave a quick smiled to Ryan.

"I will do it, thanks to Van," I said, Van, smiled.

"Come on, I will get you a new shirt and we will go talk to Alex," said Van, "take your burger"

"Sure thing," I said giving Ryan a quick wave and walking with Van to a bus with Glamour Kills written on the side, Van opened the door and walked right in. I only saw Alex and Rian on the sofa, but that was fine, least Alex was here, I swear I was about to swoon.

"Guys, meet your new assistant, this is Austin," said Van, they both looked to me, both of them looking relieved.

"Van, you fucking rock," said Rian with a smile.

"Hell yeah, you do! Austin, you rock for doing this" said Alex, I smiled as he slapped me on the back, I just shrugged, I couldn't let myself get like this, he is straight and even if he was gay my past would keep anyone from getting with me, my past, hell like it was far behind me I just did it last night.

"I am going to get Austin's suitcase from our bus and move him over here with you guys, we will see you guys after your set," said Van with a smile as he pulled me away from them, I looked at him curiously.

"My suitcase?" I asked Van smiled.

"No one has to know anything that you don't want to tell them. You and are about the same size, I will give you my clothes and get you some band t-shirts and skull and dice shit. You got to pimp it out" said Van, I looked at him, I couldn't believe he was being this nice to me.

"Thanks, Van. You just, well, thanks" I said, Van, patted me on the back.

"Don't mention it, Austin. I am going to call my mom and have her put you on the payroll and get you a credit card for your 500 a month allowance" said Van, I looked at him my eyes wide.

"500 dollars?! A month?!"

"Yep, it usually 250 but what the hell, you are doing us all a favor," said Van with a shrug, I didn't want to be a charity case, but I didn't want to hustle anymore, my ribs were telling me no and so was my mind for that matter. I hoped Van was right, I hoped that I would finally be happy, even though I seriously doubted that I would be.


	2. Come One, Come All

I looked at myself in the mirror, the clothes that Van had given me were a little tight but they actually looked good like that, I was just happy to be in clean clothes. The jeans were tight but they showed off my butt and the shirt was a Mayday Parade band tee. I looked at my face in the mirror, I have a huge black eye but at least it wasn't almost swollen shut like this morning and the bruise on my ribs was turning a dark purple color, I couldn't believe that that actually happened to me last night, I knew that I could have been killed, maybe this was some divine intervention getting caught and then Van giving me this job with All Time Low. Van poked his head into the door and smiled when he saw me.

"You look amazing. Alex is waiting for you" said Van with a smile, I nodded, trying to hold in my excitement that Alex was actually here and all of this was real. I followed Van into the small sitting area where Alex was talking to Ryan, they both looked up at me and smiled.

"Austin my man, you ready to start being my slave, I mean assistant," said Alex with a smile, I nodded.

"Alex, don't be too hard on him and you pass that word on to Jack as well," said Van with a knowing look, Alex smiled at him.

"Van, don't you trust me?" asked Alex with an innocent smile.

"Sure, you I trust, Jack not so much. I am not even mentioning the Hilton incident" said Van, Alex turned red, I knew about that, it was all over the news, that I saw when standing outside a Best Buy waiting on a client. Jack had paintballed his name on to the side of a Hilton in Ohio.

"I will make sure he is on his best behavior," said Alex holding his hand to his heart, "come on Austin, let's get you settled on the bus"

"Cool, later Van, Ryan," I said as Alex lead me off the bus, I saw Alex turn and give Van a look, Van just shrugged.

"Is everything ok?" I asked Alex looked at me confused.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked raising a brow.

"I just noticed the look you and Van shared, seemed like something was up"

"Nah, Van and I share a lot of looks, we have been friends for a couple of years, ever since his mom signed us to her label. At first, it was like I felt like I had to be because he was always there with his mom but then we got to hang out one day and he is a really cool guy. He knows a lot about music for a 17-year-old"

"I am 17, I will be 18 next month," I said, not even sure why that left my mouth, Alex smiled at me.

"Awesome then, we shall be having a party for you! We will just try and contain Jack" said Alex with a smile.

"Is Jack really that bad? I mean I know he did paint his name on the side of a hotel but is he that crazy all the time?" I asked and before Alex could answer me and stream of water hit me directly in my good eye when I could finally see again, I looked up to see Jack standing there outside the bus with a super soaker in his hand.

"Dammit Jack, couldn't you wait until tomorrow to initiate Austin?" asked Alex ringing out his shirt, Jack got him more than me.

"Nope, it's got to be the first day on the bus. So you are Houston?" asked Jack giving me an odd look, "welcome to the All Time Low circus"

"Um, it's Austin," I said, Jack, shrugged.

"Whatever, still a city in Texas right?" said Jack as he opened the door to the bus, Alex and I followed him on, Rian and Zack were sitting on the sofa playing with DS, I could already tell that they were quiet and more mature than Jack, "guys Dallas is here"

"Austin," said Alex, Rian, and Zack both looked at me, smiled, and then went back to their games.

"As you can tell, I am the coolest on the bus," said Jack puffing out his chest, I smiled as Alex rolled his eyes.

"Come on, I will show you the bunks," said Alex as he leads me to a small hallway with 3 bunks on either side, "the bottom one here is yours, I am right above you and sorry in advance but Jack is right across from you"

"Should I be scared?" I asked seriously, but with a smile on my face.

"I would be, but if he does anything to you, just let me know and I will fix him," said Alex

"Will do?" I said as Alex pulled back my covers, there were three huge frogs in the middle of my bed.

"See, " said Alex rolling his eyes, "Jack!"

"What?" called Jack innocently.

"You want to explain why there are three frogs on Austin's bed?" asked Alex

"I don't know, they probably hopped on when we opened the door. Frogs are very intelligent amphibians" said Jack, I was trying not to smile since Alex was being so serious.

"Jack, come here, now," said Alex, Jack was there in less than five seconds looking from us to the frogs.

"What is it Father Alex?" asked Jack with a smile.

"Get the frogs off the bus and then switch sheets with Austin, you can have the frog piss ones," said Alex, Jack glared at him and then looked at me.

"The first day on the bus and you already got me in trouble with Alex, I might actually like you," said Jack giving me a smile, I smiled back.

"Should I be scared?" I whispered to Alex as Jack carried the frogs off the bus.

"Maybe, I mean Jack wouldn't do anything harmful to you but he will prank the hell out of you, just be on watch" said Alex as Jack ripped my sheets off my bed and then put his on mine and vice versa, I knew this trip was going to be anything but ordinary and I was excited.


	3. Therapy

The next day, after washing shaving cream out of my hair that Jack thought it would be funny to do, I washed my hair without telling Alex, I would fight fire with fire. I was standing at the merchandise booth with Van; he was working with the customers and I was handing him the stuff they wanted. When my pocket vibrated, I forgot I had a cellphone in there that Van gave me and only the band and he had the number; I read the text from Alex saying they needed waters.  
"Hey Van, the band needs waters where are they?" I asked, Van, bent down in a cooler and handed me four glasses of water, that's when I saw the salt from the take out Van and I had, I smiled to myself as I added the salt to one bottle of water I would give to Jack. I walked behind the stage to find the guys setting up, I handed each of them their waters, Jack was the first to open his water, he downed half the bottle before doing a spit take that almost hit Zack in the face.

"What the fuck is up with this water?" asked Jack, he then looked at me, I shrugged and smiled, he smiled back at me, "touche'"

"You guys need anything else?" I asked.

"We are good for now, after the set, we are getting back on the bus, our next stop is Boston and I want to get there early," said Alex, I nodded.

"Yeah, no problem," I said walking away from them and back to the booth where Van was still working like crazy.

"The guys need me on the bus after their set, we are going to Boston and Alex wants to get there early," I said, Van, smiled.

"Yeah figures, probably to see his girlfriend, she always visits on one stop of the tour," said Van, I felt my heart breaking, I didn't even think Alex would have a girlfriend, I wanted him to be gay so bad.

"Oh, that sounds cool," I said, trying to hide my depression, but Van seemed to catch on.

"What's up with the sadness?"

"Nothing, I am fine. Just hot" I lied, Van eyed me curiously and then threw a shirt at me, I unfolded it to see it was a Panic! shirt with 'Lying is the Most Fun" written on it, I looked at Van who shrugged.

"I am great at reading people, Austin. Alex is a good guy but has a girlfriend, I am not saying that means anything but he is with someone, don't let yourself get clouded and get hurt. I knew how much that can hurt" said Van, I shrugged I knew he was right but I liked Alex a lot. When I looked at him, I  felt something I haven't felt before. I know I have only known him for like a day, but there was something there.

"Van, I am ok. I can take care of myself, but thanks for looking out for me" I said, Van, smiled.

"Not a problem at all," said Van as girls began screaming loudly, I didn't know why until Ryan showed up, I watched Van share a look at him, I knew there was something more there than other people caught on to.

"Hey Austin, Jack says he meet them on the bus, they are heading there now," said Ryan, I nodded.

"See you guys later," I said as I waved to them and started walking towards the bus when I opened the door to the bus a water balloon hit me in the chest, I didn't even have to look up to know who it was.

"That's for the salt in my water," said Jack with a smile.

"Well, I did that because you put shaving cream in my hair" I replied, Jack, shrugged.

"You are my new mortal enemy, I see you can give as well as you can take"

"I could have just told Alex, but this way it's more fun," I said as the rest of the guys got on the bus.

"This isn't over Fort Worth," said Jack with a smile and in a whisper.

"Bring it, Jack" I whispered back with a smile, Jack and I both knew that we didn't really hate each other, it was just fun.

"Good timing, Austin," said Alex with a smile.

"Yeah, Jack came and got me, I heard the set today pretty awesome," I said, Alex, smiled.

"Thanks," said Alex as he looked at his cell phone, "it's Amy"

"That your girlfriend?" I asked, not wanting to know the answer.

"Yeah, she is excited about seeing me tomorrow," said Alex, I faked a smile.

"Yeah, I bet," I said trying to hide the sadness, "I am going to go play some Wii"

"Awesome, want to race in Mario Kart, ten bucks says I can kick your ass"

"You're on," I said with a smile, Alex and I played video games while the others took a nap, it was cool just being alone with Alex, I even forgot about his girlfriend, especially after winning my 10 bucks.

"Ok so you kicked my ass, I underestimated you," said Alex with a smile, I returned one.

"It's ok, just remember I am smarter than the average bear," I said with a smile, Alex gave me an odd look and then looked another way.

"I better get some sleep now, busy day tomorrow," said Alex, I nodded.

"Yeah, I am right behind you" I said, Alex waved and went to his bunk, I didn't want to go to sleep yet, I just wanted to forget that tomorrow Alex's girlfriend would be here and that I would probably have to watch them kiss and shit, I just hoped that I didn't wake up in the morning, maybe this would be the night I died in my sleep.


End file.
